NEW YORK — Good afternoon from Citi Field, now in its second year of operation. The new home of the New York Mets is a MAJOR upgrade from Shea Stadium (then again, RFK Stadium would have been an upgrade from Shea Stadium) but I've never been all that impressed with this place.

For one thing, it's incredibly confusing to navigate. One of the best things Nationals Park has going for it is that fans can walk all the way around the main concourse and never lose sight of the field. Not so here, where there are random turns and angles blocking your path every which way you go. (And don't get me started on how difficult it is to find the press box. I leave a trail of breadcrumbs every time I walk out the door.)

The playing field, too, has all kinds of quirks, and not necessarily in a good way. There's a big overhang above the right-field fence that led to a disputed homer last season when the Nats were in town. Members of the visiting pitching staff can't see the field from their bullpen because of the poor angle it faces (they have to watch on TV screens). It's almost like the Mets just wanted to create quirkiness forRead more »

Anon – Shea was transformed into a parking lot just prior to Citi's opening. I'm a Rutgers grad student and had a mini-package to Citi Field last year (mostly for the 3 games vs. the Nats as well as the Subway Series) and agree with Mark on Citi's design. It's charming from the outside, but once you're in, it's a bit of a maze. I found myself wanting to show features of the park off to friends I'd bring along to each game and often struggling to find them until I'd been to my 12th or 13th game. Very steep learning curve. Will be back for Saturday afternoon's game. Hope I can find the Shake Shack. (I know, I know, it's the one place in there you can't miss.)

One more thought from last night's game – while the Phillies clearly had some well hit balls off him, Stammen had a 59% groundball rate. That is a very good number. Strikeouts didn't match the spring training numbers, but his FB velocity was consistently 90-92 on the TV gun so I think that there is reason to hope that he has made an incremental step forward there. I am optimistic that he is going to perform well this year.

I agree. Went to a game last year at Citi Field. The sight lines were horrible…if someone stood up anywhere in front of you the entire field disappeared. Having grown up in NY I missed the old decrepit Shea.

Anyone know how long it's been since Adam Dunn hit a long fly? I know he didn't hit one during the last week or so of 2009 because he needed just two for 40 and I thought he had plenty of time to do it but it wasn't to be. And then this sping, nada. Anyone as paranoid as I am about the other face-of-franchise? I WANT MY HOMERS!

Adam Dunn's last home run, September 22, at home.Previous to that, Sept 11, in Florida.So, he has not hit a home run in 14 regular season games.And he has hit only 1 home run in his past 22 games.Citi Field would be as good a place as ever to turn things around.

Dunn's last home run was on Sept 22 in a 14-2 loss to the Dodgers at Nationals Park.* (Hey, I was at that game.) He went the last 11 games without going deep, and now all of spring training and three games into this season. I'd say he's due.* Thanks to baseball-reference.com for the info.

Can anyone here rationalize why the Mets pitched to Desmond? That would be some bad managing and Don Sutton would have got bananas if a Nats pitcher had did that. Given what Carlton Ruiz did to us that's an auspicious sign.

I've worried about Dunn for a little while now. It started during Spring Training where he didn't hit one out either. Last year he was on point by the World Baseball Classic (maybe that's why he ran out of gas at season's end), but this year he just doesn't seem to have it down yet. I hope he snaps out of it soon. He's really worrying me.

Hey Mark,Maybe this discussion on Dunn is worth a future column.My impression is if the team is up 5 runs or down down 5 runs Dunn might hit a homer. But I have few memories of him hitting one to tie or go ahead in a game. I also have the impression (not being a Saber guy) that a high percentage of his K's are looking, and a high percentage of these looking-K's happen with men on base.Am I right on any of this?Anonynats

Anonynats: Your impression is accurate, particularly on your latter point. Dunn often is overly selective at the plate, taking a close pitch for strike three when there are runners on base begging to be driven in. There are times when you should look to draw a walk. And then there are times you should look to drive in some runs.

Watching Garrett Mock pitch (& I use that term loosely) has got to be one of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced in baseball. If he can't throw strikes, why's he in the major leagues? And if he can, but isn't, he must have a baseball IQ of about 20. He's also driving Dibble crazy. (My first post, BTW). Keep up the good work, guys.

Based on performance, Bergmann's the guy who ought to get sent down. But he's out of options. It would be nice if Jesse English could get a LOOGY situation where the lefty stays in there to face him instead of him getting Tatis. I'd kind of like to see Bergmann sent down, nice guy rep notwithstanding and see English stay, but I think that it will be the other way around.Which way do you think this will go, Mark?

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Mock is just a big dumb Texan who would be pumping gas out on Route 66 if he didn't touch 93 on the radar gun now and then. Any relationship between what he does and major league pitching is purely coincidental. To paraphrase that great poet Hollywood Henderson: "He couldnt' spell cat if you spotted him and c and the t.